Just six free agents receive $ 18.9 million qualifying offers

Houston outfielder George Springer, Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu and Philadelphia catcher J. T. Realmuto were among just six free agents who received $ 18.9 million qualifying offers on Sunday from their former teams.

Three right- handed pitchers also received the offers: Cincinnati’s Trevor Bauer, the Mets’ Marcus Stroman and San Francisco’s Kevin Gausman.

Those six players have until 5 p. m. on Nov. 11 to accept the offers or press ahead as free agents who could start negotiating contracts with all teams on Sunday night.

They are the only ones subject to compensation among the 181 players who became free agents in a market that also includes pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, outfielder Marcell Ozuna, shortstop Didi Gregorius and designated hitter Nelson Cruz.

A brutal market is expected, with many teams likely to cut payrolls following a regular season played with no fans in the seats due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If a team makes a qualifying offer to a player who signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former club would receive a draft pick as compensation.

A free agent could be made a qualifying offer only if he had been with the same team continuously since opening day and had never received a qualifying offer before.

Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton and Boston DH J. D. Martinez kept their contracts rather than go free and test the market following subpar seasons.